All was lost.

With the emergence of Sathu'khar, leader of the Abominations who had plagued Makandrascar for thousands of years, the entirety of its recorded history, the realm of Lord Tenebrius was consumed by hordes of crimson-scaled creatures and massive, armoured beasts who trampled all underfoot. Without the protection spell in place, portals appeared almost everywhere at once. The people were butchered in a vast orgy of blood and slaughter.

The Abominations were not the only ones responsible.

Legions of the realm's soldiers, men and women who had fought to defend the realm from those monsters, now joined in the bloodshed, recklessly cutting down their friends and family. They were led by Yuro Katur, former Castellan of the Iron Hold and adoptive father of Rhokan, the Lord of Fate.

The man who had once fought for life and peace now fought for death and hate, his body now a twisted, corrupt parody of itself as he led the traitors in orgies of death and violence.

After his duel with Antonar and defeat at the hands of Sathu'khar, Rhokan had teleported himself to Fakori Castle, the residence of Elliara and the last remaining bastion of hope in the realm. All those still faithful to Lord Tenebrius' memory, and thus to Rhokan, their new Lord, gathered there. While he had gone off to face Antonar, Elliara had endeavoured to gather every ally she could. By the time she and Rhokan reunited, they and the twins, Roni and Toni, were the only surviving apprentices of Lord Tenebrius.

Their army was modest, compared to the united forces of the realm, but they had saved everyone they could. None of the villagers had joined them; those that escaped from their burning homes were hunted down like animals, brutally torn apart by their own kin.


"Hurry!" Elliara shouted. "Get that gate closed!"

The last army contingents were pouring into the castle, desperate for any measure of protection they could find. Once the last of them were through, the front gate was slammed shut, its psychic wards put in place. With that, the castle was protected, in as much as anything could be protected when the world was burning.

"How many?" she called down to the soldiers who had just entered.

They glanced at each other for a moment, not looking sure as to who should respond. That suggested that their commander was dead. Eventually, a dark-haired woman looked up at her and replied "Fifty, my lord."

Elliara swore. That unit had been over three hundred strong just this morning. "Get some food and rest. We're going to need it." The dark-haired woman nodded, leading the others into the castle. The Years of Suffering had always exacted a high number of deaths, and among other things, there were two significant results of this: the population of Makandrascar was never that high, and in the army, everyone served, no matter their gender. Women were needed just as men due to the smaller population, something that the Gifted Lord was feeling more acutely at the moment.

Off in the distance, everything was aglow with raging flames or the Abominations' portals, creating a long line of pulsating colour. Elliara thought she could hear screams, even this far to the east.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed as she exhaled. Everything had gone so terribly wrong. One moment, they were weathering the Year of Suffering better than they ever had, and the next, everything was being swallowed by hellfire.

Roni and Toni were currently in the ritual chamber at the top of the castle, using their power to project a minor version of the protective spell over a mile-wide area. It was barely enough to protect all the soldiers she had managed to rescue, but it was something.

Suddenly, her senses flared as there was a muted thunderclap.

Elliara looked down at the courtyard, where a brief flash of light presaged the sudden appearance of Rhokan. She felt relief flooding through her, but then she saw the damage to his body. He was leaning heavily on his staff, obviously fatigued, and his black robe was torn and frayed all over. His mask was broken, with a missing chunk revealing his bloodied face. His gloves were all but gone, and his hands had been reduced to bloody messes.

Elliara leaped into the courtyard, proceeding to run over to Rhokan. He fell down to his knees, grunting in pain. She crouched beside him, but even bent over and on his knees he was much larger than her.

"Rhokan, what happened?" she asked, placing a hand on his back. She instantly withdrew it upon feeling how hot his clothing was. In fact, it was smoking and singed. "Where are the Shadow Guard that went with you? What happened with Antonar?"

For a long moment, he remained as he was, too weak to stand. Then, he placed a hand on her boot. Her entire body tensed as she experienced his shared memories.

She saw everything that had happened in the Iron Hold: the in-fighting between the soldiers and Shadow Guard, the fierce duel with Antonar, the sudden, cataclysmic appearance of the nightmarish Sathu'khar, and the full realization of Castellan Yuro's betrayal. Then came Rhokan's fall from the spire, and his teleportation to this spot.

Elliara gasped as the vision came to an end, having to catch her breath for a minute.

Rhokan then collapsed from exhaustion.

By this point, a crowd of soldiers and servants had gathered around them, and Elliara stood and called out "Get him inside!" As he was gently brought within the castle, she could see that his wounds were already healing. It would not be long before he was back to his full strength.

Still, she suspected that the most grievous wounds were not the physical.

The next few hours were spent coordinating the survivors, finding them lodging and ensuring adequate watchmen were posted along the walls. Fakori castle was filled to its limit, and the harbour city that surrounded it was packed with wounded soldiers and terrified families. Their supplies would run out before long, and unless they found another shelter, they would all starve. If the Abominations did not slaughter them, first.

She and the other Gifted could outlast any soldier or farmer; their abilities, among other benefits, provided pools of energy that could theoretically sustain them for decades longer than any natural lifespan. But, they could not maintain themselves that way while fighting off the murderous hordes of Sathu'khar at the same time.

When she was not busy directing housing and coordinating patrols, Elliara visited Rhokan, who had been placed in her private chambers. Her personal physicians, learned men and women who had The Gift, tended to him, but they informed her that his wounds were healing at an astounding rate on their own, and they admitted that there was nothing more they could do that his own body was not doing.

Lord Tenebrius had always believed that Rhokan was their saviour, and if ever there were a time when the people of Makandrascar needed a saviour, it was now.


Rhokan tossed and turned in bed, sweating profusely. He was plagued with visions that morphed into memories, memories that overlapped one another as details were haphazardly exchanged for fantasies.

He remembered conversations with Antonar that had turned violent long before their confrontation, duels with Lord Tenebrius who morphed into the form of Sathu'khar, and a host of disjointed, confusing imagery.

The worst of them all were the ones featuring Yuro.

Every memory Rhokan ever had about the older man was now tainted; warm, loving conversations were twisted into savage battles, times spent riding through the countryside became horrific as they were swallowed by toothed maws that opened in the ground. The former Castellan's betrayal had struck deep into his core, and deep down, Rhokan knew that he would bear these scars for the rest of his life.

He would never feel another emotion.

The memory of Yuro's betrayal, of realizing that his adoptive father figure had fallen so far and now hated him so much, ended with him falling from the spire. He plummeted, just as he did when he fell to Makandrascar as an infant. Only this time, he was not the bearer of hope, but tragedy. He fell, and fell, eventually coming to strike the ground.

Rhokan bolted upright, gasping for breath as the torrent of nightmares came to an abrupt halt.

His chest rose and fell as he breathed in deeply, slowly sloughing off the pain and misery of his horror-laced memories. Eventually, his breathing slowed, and he took stock of his surroundings. He was currently sitting, cramped, in a bed that clearly had not been constructed for him. Rhokan looked down at his body, and found that, apart from his silver pants, he was nude. The injuries he had sustained from the fall were completely healed. His mask was gone, and he felt his face, realizing that he was whole.

"It's good to see you up" Rhokan heard a familiar voice say. He turned his head and saw Elliara standing by the door, leaning against a wall.

Though her porcelain mask concealed her face, he could sense that she was exhausted. Hair was visible on the normally bald half of her head, while the silver hair on the other half was unkempt and greasy, indicating a general lack of personal hygiene in the face of an apocalyptic series of events.

He reached out to her with his powers, mentally asking her how long since his teleportation.

"Two days" she replied, pulling a chair from across the room with a wave and practically collapsing into it. She removed her mask, and Rhokan saw the toll exacted on her by frenzied management during a crisis. The Gifted Lord was one step away from falling unconscious.

Rhokan stood, stretching his muscles. He saw his staff on a nearby table and reached out his hand. It floated into his grasp, and he gripped it so tight that his knuckles were turning white. The sting of Yuro's betrayal was still fresh, and while anyone else would be consumed by feelings of anger and despair, he felt nothing.

For thousands of years, innumerable generations, the Abominations had been the great enemy of the Makandrascari people, but they had only fought the footsoldiers. Rhokan had seen the true extent of their enemy, and going forward, he had to do more than just endure.

He would have to delve deeper into the mysteries of The Gift in order to combat Sathu'khar and Yuro.

Channeling his godlike powers through his staff, Rhokan fashioned a suit of armour for himself. The plates came into being with a flash, equipping themselves over his body as a white cape was clasped to his shoulders. His face was once more concealed by a porcelain mask. With that complete, he proceeded to walk out of Elliara's chambers. She tried to stand, but he waved a hand and used a sleeping spell on her, and her eyes closed as her head lolled to the side.

He could not afford to let her exhaustion compromise his leadership, and he needed her to be at her strongest when the time came.

Rhokan opened the door with a mental command, and proceeded to make his way out of the castle and onto the battlements. The soldiers and servants who came across him dropped to their knees, voicing breathless thanks and statements of hope at his awakening. The golden glow that had been a part of him his entire life was a beacon of light to the people, who were currently drowning in darkness.

He walked along the wall for a few minutes, and then he was struck by a vision. He saw an oncoming tide of crimson beasts and blood-drenched traitors that would wash over them in a matter of hours.

Rhokan immediately held up his staff. A white light began to shine from the eagle at its head, a light which grew and grew in intensity as he reached out and touched the minds of every man, woman, and child in the castle and the harbour city. He conveyed a single message which rang in their minds:

They are coming.

Completely trusting their lord, the soldiers instantly began shouting orders to each other. Horns were blown, signalling the evacuation, and Rhokan could hear the distant sounds of an overcrowded city rousing itself into action.

As men and women ran this way and that, the Lord of Fate ushered himself back to Elliara's chambers, where she was still sleeping. He had a servant take all of her books and weapons, while he carried her all the way down to the harbour. Once she was settled on one of the ships, he concerned himself with directing the evacuation.

Even spurned into action by his vision, the people took two hours to load themselves onto every ship in the harbour. Even smaller fishing vessels, dinghy's, and essentially anything that could float was used in order to get out of the city and onto the water. Overseeing the final evacuation in the castle, Rhokan could see the advancing hordes of Abominations rapidly advancing towards them. From the ritual chamber at the top of the castle, he could see countless thousands crimson-scaled monstrosities, some of which were astride great, lumbering beasts of metal that belched molten fires.

Roni and Toni were kneeling across from each other, keeping up the barrier for as long as possible. As the evacuation underwent its final stage, the Abominations began to assault the castle, throwing themselves with reckless abandon at the gate and the walls.

They were greeted by the arrows shot from a hundred soldiers on the ramparts who had elected to remain behind and free up room on the boats for others. They were joined by two hundred others who stood ready in the courtyard, all of whom knew that they were going to their deaths. Rhokan could not help but feel honoured at their sacrifice, while at the same time accepting the cold knowledge of this new war.

Countless good men and women had to go to their agonizing deaths just to hold the enemy at bay, all in the name of saving the rest. He pledged to himself, then and there, that he would not only fight so that sacrifices had to be made, but to eradicate Sathu'khar and his kind forevermore.

The Abominations began climbing over the walls, while one of the metal beasts threw its bulk against the gate, splintering the wood. Rhokan knew that now was the time.

With his staff in hand, he placed a hand on both of the twins, using his powers to teleport them onto one of the last ships as it sailed away. With that, the ritual was broken and the barrier collapsed. It was not seconds before swirling pink portals appeared above Fakori Castle and the harbour city, depositing even more slobbering Abominations onto them.

Rhokan stretched out his awareness, feeling the three hundred soldiers as they were brutally torn asunder and consumed within minutes. He clenched his free hand into a fist, his freshly made vow at the forefront of his thoughts.

Soon, the Abominations came into view, rushing towards the harbour in a mad frenzy.

Rhokan responded by making a pulling motion with his free hand. At his command, the water rose in a great wave that pushed all the ships farther from the city. He could feel the ship rocking from the sudden jolt, and most everyone onboard fell down, but his footing remained stable. Once they were far enough away, he threw the wave back at the edge of the horde. As it rushed back towards the city, he fired a white beam of superhot energy at it. At once, the wave erupted into a wave of roaring flames.

It then slammed into the harbour, slaying an untold number of the Abominations and setting most of the city ablaze. He could see monstrous shapes writhing in agony amidst the psychically enhanced flames, melting into piles of bubbling sludge.

However, there was one figure who seemed to be unharmed by the flames.

It strode through the melting corpses, wielding a long, serrated sword in one hand. Rhokan felt every muscle in his body grow taut as Yuro Katur came into view, standing atop the burning pier and staring at them. The Lord of Fate could feel his former father figure's gaze on him, and his own superior, Gift-enhanced sight perceived the older man's deformed body.

Yuro was now quite taller than the average man, and his skin, which was the colour of bloodshot eyes, was stretched to near breaking over his prodigious muscles. Sharpened bones protruded from his collarbone, elbows, and hips, while his mouth seemed to glow with an inner fire. At his waist was a collection of human skulls, some more intact than others and one still dripping blood from freshly flayed skin. As the ships sailed away, he raised his sword high and let loose a defiant roar that sounded so inhuman as to be spine-tingling.

Rhokan turned around and walked, forcing himself to not look back.


Sathu'khar raised his double-headed great axe, then swiftly brought it down, bisecting the hapless victim held by a pair of Bloodletters. The mortal's corpse was cleanly sliced in half, and blood sprayed over the lesser Daemons as they released the severed halves.

The Bloodthirster of Khorne then kicked one of the halves down into the pit.

The pair of Juggernauts, Daemon Engines in the shape of great beasts, lunged forward as they tried to claim the fresh meat for themselves. The first bit on the lifeless leg, while the other clamped its jaws on the first's metallic form. Soon, they engaged in a savage match, each attempting to conquer the other.

Sathu'khar sat down in his recently fashioned brass throne as he watched the contest. After his emergence into real-space, he had immediately set about converting the mortals' so-called 'Iron Hold' into a stronghold worthy of one such as him. The pristine metal walls had been fitted with crude brass plates with sharpened edges, each with the Blood God's symbol painted in blood. The walls now sported sharpened spikes, like the lower jaw of a savage beast. The main courtyard had also been converted into a fighting pit, where his warriors and beasts could engage in blood-duels and death matches in order to slake their thirst between battles.

As countless hundreds of his Bloodletters cheered and shrieked in glee as the two beasts tore into each other, the front gate was thrown open and Yuro Katur stormed into the pit, disregarding the Daemon Engines.

Sathu'khar watched the mortal as he briskly walked along the edge of the pit, where several of his converted Blood God worshippers wished to have a front-row seat of the action. He appeared to be furious, and when one of his fellows tried to speak to him, he responded by bashing the man's head against a wall. The Bloodthirster felt the man's rage glowing like a furnace flame, and it pleased him. The Blood God always encouraged his faithful to kindle the flames of hatred and fury within their black hearts.

The mortal eventually appeared before him and prostrated himself. "Forgive me, my lord" he said. "I have failed. The Hateful One has led his miserable followers away from this place. I could not follow."

Sathu'khar snorted, blowing a puff of smoke from the slits of his nostrils. "Champions of blood and skulls do not ask for forgiveness, nor should they give it! You must pay your penance in blood and suffering, as all who fail mighty Khorne must."

"I have suffered greatly at the hands of the sorcerers" the mortal countered, standing and drawing his sword.

It was not a challenge, but a sign of his desire to draw blood.

"There is nothing that I cannot further endure, no pain that I have not already felt."

Sathu'khar stood. "We shall see" he said, proceeding to crack his fiery whip on the mortal's left, fleshy, arm. He roared in pain as the limb was severed from his body. It fell to the floor with a wet plop, the skin blackening as it slowly turned to dust. The Bloodthirster of Khorne then kicked the mortal with a cloven hoof, sending him tumbling into the pit below. The victorious Juggernaut, its jaws dripping with the blood and guts of its defeated counterpart, turned its head. As it moved, its metal plates ground against each other in a chilling sound. It roared a challenge as the mortal charged it, sword in hand.

Sathu'khar smiled at the display. Only through the fire of battle could one hope to advance in the eyes of the Blood God.


"Archers at the ready!" Elliara barked, waving the men over as they knocked arrows.

Rhokan turned and slowly walked over to the ship's prow. With his Gift-enhanced sight, he could see with perfect clarity the dozen-strong squadron of green-sailed sloops led by a larger frigate which sported a flag depicting a tear drop against a field of green.

"They belong to Lord Szaros" Elliara explained. "He and I have clashed on many occasions. He suffers from the delusion that the entire Orokian Sea belongs to him."

Rhokan nodded. He remembered hearing the rival lord's name before, as the self-proclaimed 'Master of the Sea' had instigated numerous attacks on the coastal border of Lord Tenebrius' realm, only to be rebuffed at every turn by Elliara. Across Makandrascar, there were countless Gifted Lords ruling over the people; Lord Tenebrius had formerly been the most powerful, but with his demise, Lord Szaros was now one of his greatest rivals.

He would soon learn to quake before the Lord of Fate.

Their evacuation had allowed them to sail from Fakori Castle with eight frigates, with barely half that number crewed by soldiers. The rest were stuffed to the gills with villagers and farmers who were struggling to survive.

Rhokan and the other Gifted were capable of surviving for an extended period of time without eating, and every one of the soldiers only took the barest necessity when it came to rations. Still, their supplies were running dangerously low, and they would need to make landfall soon if they did not want to starve. That meant sailing to Nakamor Island, the seat of Lord Szaros' power.

The archers, their arrows knocked, pulled back on their drawstrings, ready to fire at the first command. As the sloops and frigate came closer, Elliara prepared to give the order.

Rhokan held up a hand, indicating that she stop.

The silver-haired woman pursed her lips and obeyed as he casually stepped onto the very tip of his ship. The Lord of Fate stood there, a defiant figure garbed in silver armour and wielding his eagle-tipped staff. He traced a pattern in the air with the black and red staff; as he did so, the orb clutched in the eagle's talons began to glow. When the glow shone brilliantly, he struck the staff on the planks at his feet. With a loud thunderclap, the glow flashed with near-blinding intensity for a half second before vanishing.

Everyone onboard his ships watched him with trepidation, not understanding the spell he had just enacted. Rhokan proceeded to thrust his hand forward, and the enemy ships did the unexpected: they turned around and joined the half dozen frigates!

The soldiers and people whispered and spoke to each other in amazement, while Elliara could hardly find the words. "You… you took control of their minds?"

Rhokan nodded.

She knelt before him and said "You truly are the Lord of Fate. None can stand before your might."

He did not look at her, instead keeping his gaze east, where Nakamor Island awaited.

The fleet, bolstered by the dominated vessels of Lord Szaros, sailed through the dark waters for another day. The soldiers maintained a tight watch, while everyone else huddled together for safety and warmth. Rhokan and the other Gifted Lords were just as concerned as their subjects, but they were careful to maintain an image of calm authority.

The Orokian Sea was, like everywhere else on Makandrascar, a dangerous and foreboding place. As the world was under the pall of eternal darkness, the water was completely obscured; apart from being vaguely able to make out its surface, none could see into its depths. The simple fact was that no one truly knew what was down there, and that terrified most people. Tales abounded of sailors falling overboard, never to be seen again, or vicious monsters rising out of the black depths to consume the sailors of rival lords in the midst of battle.

Rhokan found himself in the captain's cabin, a spacious chamber with a large wooden table, a desk, and a window that offered him a view of Makandrascar's utter blackness. He was hunched over the table, and yet he was still taller than any of the other Gifted Lords as they examined a map of the sea. A lantern hung above them, bathing their masked faces in a soft orange glow as the ship rocked slightly from side to side.

"Here," Elliara said from his right, pointing to a port city on the southwestern edge of a moderately sized island, "this is where we make port. It's one of Szaros' most fortified cities, but if we don't do something soon, then we're all going to starve out here."

"And what of the fleet that will oppose us?" Roni asked, standing beside his twin.

"It is unlikely that Lord Szaros will tolerate our presence" Toni, his mirror image, added.

"So what is to be done?" they both asked in unison, two halves of a whole.

Elliara stared at them for a moment, then looked back at the map and said "During the Years of Suffering, he keeps most of his fleets moored so as to not lose any ships and have as much manpower on hand for the Abominations. The ships we came across are the most sea-borne resistance we're going to come across."

"And what about when we come to the harbour?" the twins asked, both cocking their heads to the side.

The three of them looked over at Rhokan, who was memorizing every aspect of the map. After a moment of silence, he motioned to the figure standing off to the side, who walked over to the table. He was dressed in the manner of a ship captain, but the four of them could sense that he had The Gift. His blonde hair was close-cut, and a ceremonial sword was sheathed at his side. "I will present myself to the others" he said, his voice sounding stilted and awkward. "They will… not suspect one of their own."

Elliara and the twins shared a glance. This was the commander of the ships that Rhokan had claimed, his mind completely overtaken by the Lord of Fate. No trace of his independence remained, as he was nothing more than an extension of Rhokan's will.

"Once that is complete," the dominated lord continued, "we can fall upon the city and easily conquer it."

"I should say that we want to avoid killing too many of Szaros' followers" Elliara said, looking at the twins and Rhokan. "With Sathu'khar and his legions ravaging Makandrascar, we can't afford to kill each other over territory. We'll need as many Gifted and soldiers as we can get if we want the slightest chance of defeating it."

Rhokan gave a long look to the silver-haired woman and the twins as the dominated lord said "Do not worry. None shall defy me." It was as if the blonde man was nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Lord of Fate, and the others could not totally conceal their unease.

Suddenly, the ship listed heavily, and the Gifted Lords held onto the table as the Shadow Guard lining the room tumbled onto the right wall.

The ship levelled out a few moments later, and the cabin door was thrown open as a soldier entered. He bowed and said "My lord, you must come quickly. There's something in the water."

Rhokan swiftly walked out of the cabin, practically bending in half in order to get through the door as the others followed. The air was quite cool outside, and as always, the only source of light in the sky was Yorstrum, which almost seemed to blot out the stars themselves. Everything else was black, and the ships of the fleet were only visible because of the lanterns hung on every vessel. The water itself was just a black sheet; nothing within was visible.

A number of soldiers were on the deck, spears in hand, and Rhokan could easily sense that they were on edge.

Rhokan walked over to the edge and gazed down at the black waters. He couldn't see anything at first, and proceeded to aim his staff downwards. The orb clutched by the eagle's talons began to shine like a pure white flame, and all who were nearby recoiled, their sun-starved eyes clenching shut. The light pierced the surface of the water, and at first, there was nothing to see, just a vast expanse of cold nothingness.

Then, something massive swam past, the light almost absorbed by the dull red scales.

Rhokan furrowed his brow, knowing that they were facing yet another obstacle. Common legends told of the Jhorni, ocean predators the size of a carriage that could swallow ten men whole. Most sailors disavowed such stories, having spent decades without seeing any such creatures. Yet, every so often, a man would go missing on a fishing trip, whole schools of fish would disappear, and coastal dwellers would swear that they heard monstrous bellows coming from far off in the water.

It would seem that the legends were more than mere fantasy, a fact that Rhokan was learning to accept as something struck the belly of his frigate. Everyone on the deck held onto something to stay upright, while a few soldiers were knocked off their feet.

"Jhorni?" Roni said, disbelief in his tone. "They are supposed to—"

"—be legends!" Toni finished.

"Every legend has some manner of truth to it" Elliara countered, her face grim. "When you live on land, they're just stories, but when you live by the sea like me, then you know otherwise."

Rhokan nodded. Before anything else could be said, something burst from the water near the ship's prow. It was long and thick, and covered in dull red scales with rows of glistening fangs lining its wide maw. It had no eyes, but that did not seem to hinder it as it snatched a soldier with its mouth as quick as a lightning strike. The man screamed as his body was punctured by fangs half as long as him. The creature violently thrashed from side to side, and the poor man's legs were thrown aside.

The other soldiers started shouting as they advanced towards it, trying to stab it with their spears or shoot it with arrows. Nothing seemed to seriously damage its hide.

The Jhorni swallowed the soldier's torso, then looked this way and that in search of more prey. In that moment, as the Shadow Guard formed protective circles around the Gifted Lords, Rhokan fired a flaming bolt from his staff. It washed over a chunk of the creature's hide, and it let loose a keening roar as its scales were charred and melted.

Elliara then chose to act, grabbing a nearby spear and throwing it. The weapon lanced through the air, striking the inside of its open maw with perfect accuracy. It reared back in pain, swaying back and forth as it slowly slithered back into the water.

"Hear, hear!" a bald sailor cried, raising his fist into the air. "We killed it!"

Just then, someone shrieked from far off to the right. Rhokan and the others looked that way, and saw another Jhorni besetting one of the frigates that was full of terrified farmers. It snapped at those on the deck, claiming an unfortunate woman and her husband.

More noises drew their gazes to the left, where yet another Jhorni was attacking a captured sloop. More and more of the serpent-like monsters sprang from the water, until there were at least eight in sight.

Rhokan gestured to the right and left, and Elliara and the twins floated over to the ships most in distress.

The Lord of Fate then made his way to the prow and floated up into the air until he was level with the top of the mast. From this vantage point, he could make out the various Jhorni beasts as they ate soldier after soldier, sailor after sailor. As with the Abominations he had faced for the first few months of the Year of Suffering, he noted that they were essentially toying with him and his subjects, taking their time as they snatched up what must have been morsels to them.

Rhokan looked at the closest creature and stretched out his palm. A white beam of blazing energy shot out from it, striking its wet, scaled hide. It roared in agony as the beam tore through flesh like a blade through cotton. Its roar was soon cut short as the beam cleanly sliced its head off. The headless body limply fell into the water, while the head itself crashed onto the deck of the frigate, the pink tongue hanging out as it bled black, corrosive blood.

Just then, Rhokan was struck by an intense vision. These beasts, the legendary Jhorni, were not the real threat. They were merely an extension of the true beast, which was deep beneath the water.

With that revelation in mind, he dove down into the water, creating an air bubble around himself as he descended like a shooting star.

Rhokan shone like a beacon of light, his natural golden glow illuminating the water around him. He saw the long, serpentine bodies of the Jhorni wriggling like worms; they reached from the surface of the water and down into the murky depths.

Rhokan seemed to be diving for quite some time, just like when he had undergone the rite. He had never given it much thought before, but now the Gifted Lord was realizing that the perception of time on Makandrascar was skewed. Mostly, time progressed naturally, but there were instances of it being warped either by being stretched or shrunken.

The Dread Forest was large, but the length of time he had taken to venture into its heart did not match the time it should have taken.

In light of Sathu'khar's arrival, Rhokan was considering some impossible things. Was he somehow affecting the progression of time? The Abominations' incursions during the Years of Suffering always felt like an… otherworldly force was intruding on Makandrascar.

What if this force was somehow responsible?

If the intervening years were somehow altered so as to pass by quickly relative to normal, and then the Years of Suffering were slowed down, then that would explain a great deal. He had noted that the Abominations had been enjoying themselves, savouring the bloodshed. That behaviour would fit if they had sped up the time between incursions.

Rhokan's thoughts warred within his mind, and he was questioning yet another facet of their existence, an existence that was, upon closer examination, engineered as the perfect hunting ground for Sathu'khar and his legions.

Suddenly, he was struck by the body of a Jhorni, having been distracted by his mental bedlam, and his staff was knocked loose.

He tumbled through the water, the serpentine bodies spiraling in front of him. Rhokan used his powers to right himself, then looked for his staff. It was gently sinking deeper and deeper into the water, and it was slowly being absorbed by the shadows of the depths.

He dived down after it, reaching out with a hand as he closed in.

Just as Rhokan came close to grasping his staff, a Jhorni head burst forth from the black depths. It stared at him with glowing yellow eyes, and it was twice as wide as he was tall.

Its fang-filled maw opened wide, and Rhokan knew that it was too late to swim away from it. He made one final push, and finally his hand gripped his staff tight as he was swallowed whole by the serpentine beast. Its gullet was like a long, wide, fleshy tunnel that pulsated at an irregular pace. Farther down, near its base, was a pool, of sorts, of sickly green digestive fluids that bubbled like bog waters.

Rhokan slid down the throat, forced along like a piece of meat. Refusing to die as just another meal for this abhorrent thing, he took action. Wreathing his free hand in white-hot energy, he punched a hole through the beast's hide.

Its entire body convulsed in pain, and the Lord of Fate steeled himself as he tore a large, gaping hole that was large enough to accommodate him. Eventually, he broke free of the beast.

He swam out into the water, covered in a slimy coating of foul mucous and black blood. The corrosive substance was eating at his armour, and Rhokan could feel the stinging pain as it seeped through onto his skin.

Ignoring the pain, he swam down, diving deep into the black depths.

Eventually, he beheld the true form of the beast. His golden light illuminated the water around him, pushing back the complete blackness as it revealed a massive glowing eye that was as large as one of the Jhorni heads. It stared at him with such malice, as if all it had ever known was hatred and death. Slowly, more and more of its true body came into view, and Rhokan could see that it was massive, twice as large as the largest frigate on the surface. The serpentine Jhorni emerged from a gaping, fang-tipped maw like tentacles.

He did not know if it had once been a natural creature corrupted by Sathu'khar, or if it was just another form of Abomination that had entered Makandrascar in ages past. Either way, he could not allow it to live.

He aimed with his staff and fired a lance of white-hot energy that struck the beast's eye, slicing through it with ease and causing it to explode like a crushed grape.

The water around him vibrated as it roared in pain. Rhokan followed up the attack by mentally invading its mind. While it was impossibly ancient compared to him, it was simple, nothing more than an animal. He focused his prodigious mental strength into a psychic attack that shredded the beast's mind, causing it to howl in agony.

Within minutes, all of the Jhorni heads, including the one he had decapitated on the surface along with a few that must have been wounded by Elliara and the twins, retracted back into the beast's maw.

It then swam away, retreating into the blackness. It was heading west, back to Sathu'khar.

With the threat ended, Rhokan used his powers to propel himself through the water. Soon enough, he broke through the surface and shot through the air before crashing onto the deck of a frigate. A crowd of people gathered around him as he stood. The corrosive black blood still ate at him, and he tore his armour off and tossed it overboard, leaving his raw flesh on display. His mask was left on.

"He has saved us!" a farmer cried out. "The Lord of Fate has slain the Jhorni!"

"You've saved us, my lord!"

"All hail the Lord of Fate!"

All those gathered on the frigate, and everyone else on the other ships, knelt before him. Elliara, Roni, and Toni walked over to him, glancing at the kneeling subjects. Rhokan looked over at Elliara, and they gave each other reassuring nods.

For now, at least, they had survived the ordeal. They just had the entire world to manage.


Hey all! After a long absence, I figured I'd give you another chapter that shows just how shitty life in 40k really is.

After all, no one ever said dealing with a Daemonic Invasion was ever easy.

Please review/favourite!